The present invention relates broadly to fuel dispenser control systems and, more particularly, to a method and control system for providing a single transaction record of a fueling event in which two dispensers, a master and a satellite, are used to fill multiple tanks of a single vehicle at a refueling station.
Large vehicles, such as recreational vehicles and trucks, may be equipped with two or more fuel tanks, often with separate tanks on either side of the vehicle. It would be advantageous to be able to fuel both tanks simultaneously with a single total fluid volume and price displayed for the customer for the total transaction. As used throughout this disclosure, the term xe2x80x9csimultaneouslyxe2x80x9d refers to the substantially contemporaneous refueling of multiple fuel tanks of a single vehicle during a single visit to a refueling station and is not intended to require that the fueling of each tank begin and end at the exact same time.
Currently, simultaneous fueling may occur from separate dispensers which render separate volume and price totals. The totals must then be added by an operator or attendant prior to payment. This delays the customer""s transaction time since the customer cannot pay for the combined transaction at the pump. In addition, requiring the operator or attendant to add the two totals increases the potential for miscalculation due to human error. A computer software program or function could be written to add the two totals; however, such an option would be difficult and expensive to implement because the program or function would have to be customized for each fueling station at which it would be used.
One hardware approach to the problem is based on hydraulics. A branch pipe can be taken from one dispenser and routed to a second dispenser so that the flow of fuel is split between two separate delivery systems. Certain disadvantages exist with this approach. First, the flow rate of fuel to the combined delivery system is no higher than for a system that dispenses fuel at only one dispenser with one hose in operation, thereby increasing the time it takes to fill the vehicle""s multiple tanks. Second, electronic vapor recovery systems, similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No 5,404,577, will not work with such hydraulic systems. The reason for this is because operation of such vapor control systems is dependent on flow registering meters and their accompanying data pulsers. Since all fuel flows from one dispenser in a hydraulic system, the meters and data pulsers of the second dispenser do not operate, which, in turn, means that, the vapor recovery system remains inoperative. Third, hydraulic systems require additional piping which increases the potential for leaks. Fourth, it is difficult or expensive to retrofit existing refueling stations with such hydraulics.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel dispensing method and control system, which will provide a single transaction total from a simultaneous fueling event using a master and satellite fuel dispenser pair.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a method and control system for simultaneous refueling, which can be used with vapor recovery systems.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a method and control system for simultaneous refueling, which may be used with pump-only dispensers or dispensers equipped with payment card readers.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a method and control system for simultaneous refueling, which can be installed at existing fueling stations and which can be used with conventional dispenser piping.
Since excess or unnecessary wiring in and around refueling stations poses an increased fire hazard, it is another object of the present invention to minimize the amount of wiring extending between the master and satellite fuel dispensers.
To those ends, the present invention provides a control system for a fuel dispensing system for refueling from at least two fuel dispensers to provide a single transaction total. The two fuel dispensers may be designated as a master/satellite fuel dispenser pair. The master dispenser includes a dispenser control circuitry. The master and satellite dispensers each have valve controls for dispensing fuel, dispensing meters, pulser circuitry associated with the dispensing meters for emitting transactional data signals responsive to meter activity, and a device for displaying at least the volume and price of the fuel dispensed. According to the present invention, the control system comprises a first communication circuit for enabling the dispenser control circuitry to communicate with the valve controls of the satellite dispenser, a second communication circuit for enabling the pulser circuitry of the satellite dispenser to communicate with the dispenser control circuitry, and a combining arrangement for adding the transactional data signals from the satellite dispenser with the transactional data signals from the master dispenser to form combined transactional data signals representative of the total amount of fuel dispensed by the master and satellite dispensers.
In the preferred embodiment, the first communication circuit includes a first multiplexer/demultiplexer associated with the master dispenser, the first multiplexer/demultiplexer converts parallel data signals from the dispenser control circuitry into datastream signal for transmission to the satellite dispenser, and a second multiplexer/demultiplexer associated with the satellite dispenser, the second multiplexer/demultiplexer converts datastream signal from the first multiplexer/demultiplexer into parallel data signals for transmission to the valve controls of the satellite dispenser. The second communication circuit includes the second multiplexer/demultiplexer which converts parallel data signals from the pulser circuitry of the satellite dispenser into datastream signal for transmission to the master dispenser, and the first multiplexer/demultiplexer which converts datastream signal from the second multiplexer/demultiplexer into parallel data-signals for transmission to the dispenser control circuitry.
It is generally understood that this fuel dispensing control system enables at least two tanks of a vehicle to be refueled relatively simultaneously. Further, in the preferred embodiment the transactional data signal is a pulser data signal. In another aspect of the present invention, the combining arrangement, which may include electronic circuitry, computer software, or both, is part of the dispenser control circuitry. Preferably, the combined transactional data signals communicate with the display device of the master dispenser to display the combined volume and price for the total fuel dispensed by the master and satellite dispensers as a single transaction.
It is generally understood that the master and satellite dispensers will each have separate fuel hoses for fuel dispensing. Further, the dispensers should be separated by a physical distance sufficient to accommodate a vehicle for simultaneous refueling there between using both hoses. In another aspect of the present invention, the master and satellite dispensers each are equipped with fuel vapor detection and recovery systems. These systems are operational during fuel dispensing and may include a first vapor recovery circuitry which is associated with the master dispenser and which is in communication with the pulser circuitry of the master dispenser and with the dispenser control circuitry, and a second vapor recovery circuitry which is associated with the satellite dispenser and which is in communication with the pulser circuitry of the satellite dispenser and with the dispenser control circuitry.
The present invention is also adaptable so that a plurality of multi-dispenser housings may be arranged in a substantially linear array wherein the multi-dispenser housings are each separated by a physical distance sufficient to accommodate a plurality of vehicles for simultaneous refueling from a master dispenser in one multi-dispenser housing and a satellite dispenser in an adjacent multi-dispenser housing. In such an array, a multi-dispenser housing will generally include a master dispenser and a satellite dispenser of different master/satellite fuel dispenser pairs. In one preferred embodiment, the plurality of multi-dispenser housings will be bordered by a single dispenser housing containing a master dispenser on one end and by a single dispenser housing containing a satellite dispenser on the other end. In another preferred embodiment, the plurality of multi-dispenser housings may be bordered by a single dispenser housing containing a master dispenser on one end with one side unused and a multi-dispenser housing on the other end containing a satellite dispenser on one side and a standalone dispenser on the other side.
The present invention further includes a method of simultaneously fueling two tanks in a vehicle and displaying at least the volume and price of the total amount of fuel dispensed to the vehicle. The method includes the steps of establishing electronic communication between a first fuel dispenser and a second fuel dispenser, positioning the vehicle between the first fuel dispenser and the second fuel dispenser, connecting a fuel hose from the first fuel dispenser to one tank of the vehicle, dispensing fuel to the vehicle from the first fuel dispenser, connecting a fuel hose from the second fuel dispenser to another tank of the vehicle, dispensing fuel simultaneously to the vehicle from the second fuel dispenser, measuring the volume of fuel dispensed from the first fuel dispenser, measuring the volume of fuel dispensed from the second fuel dispenser, combining the volume measurements from the first and second fuel dispensers, and displaying at least the total combined volume and price of fuel dispensed to the vehicle from the first and second fuel dispensers.
Preferably, the steps of dispensing fuel from both the first and second fuel dispensers further includes the step of controlling the dispensing of fuel from the first and second fuel dispensers with dispenser control circuitry in the first fuel dispenser. It is further preferred that the step of combining the volume measurements from the first and second fuel dispensers include the steps of transmitting volume measurements and fuel price from the first fuel dispenser to dispenser control circuitry in the first fuel dispenser, transmitting volume measurements and fuel price from the second fuel dispenser to dispenser control circuitry in the first fuel dispenser, and combining the volume measurements and fuel prices from the first and second fuel dispensers in the dispenser control circuitry to generate a combined volume measurement and combined price for fuel dispensed to the vehicle from the first and second fuel dispensers.
In the preferred embodiment the method of simultaneously fueling two tanks in a vehicle and displaying at least the volume and price of the total amount of fuel dispensed to the vehicle further includes the step of enabling a person to pay for the total combined volume and price of fuel dispensed from the first and second fuel dispensers with one payment at a payment card reader installed at the first fuel dispenser. It is preferable that the present method further include the steps of detecting first fuel vapor emissions at the connection point between the fuel hose of the first fuel dispenser and one tank of the vehicle, detecting second fuel vapor emissions at the connection point between the fuel hose of the second fuel dispenser and another tank of the vehicle, and recovering a majority of the first and second fuel vapor emissions.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the method of simultaneously fueling two tanks in a vehicle and displaying at least the volume and price of the total amount of fuel dispensed to the vehicle may be varied so that multiple vehicles may be fueled simultaneously in an array of refueling stations. The method of electronically linking a first and second fuel dispenser further includes the steps of placing a first fuel dispenser and a second fuel dispenser in a multi-dispenser housing, arranging a plurality of multi-dispenser housings in an array with a physical distance between each multi-dispenser housing sufficient to accommodate a vehicle between each multi-dispenser housing and sufficient to accommodate a plurality of vehicles within the array, and establishing electronic communication between the first fuel dispenser in one multi-dispenser housing with the second fuel dispenser in an adjacent multi-dispenser housing.
In one embodiment, this method of fueling in an array of multi-dispenser housings may further comprise the steps of placing a single dispenser housing with a first fuel dispenser at one end of the array of multi-dispenser housings and placing a single dispenser housing with a second fuel dispenser at the other end of the array of multi-dispenser housings. In another embodiment, this method of fueling in an array of multi-dispenser housings may further comprise the steps of placing a single dispenser housing with a first fuel dispenser at one end of the array of multi-dispenser housings and placing a multi-dispenser housing at the other end of the array of multi-dispenser housings, wherein the first fuel dispenser of the multi-dispenser housing at the other end of the array is a stand-alone fuel dispenser.
By the above, the present invention provides an effective system and method whereby simultaneous refueling of a vehicle may be accomplished with a single transaction total being provided for the customer, operator, or attendant. The present invention overcomes problems inherent with prior art methods and control systems and does so in a manner wherein existing dispensers may be retrofitted and converted to master/satellite fuel dispensing systems. Additionally, the present invention allows existing safety measures to remain in place and does not require extensive redesign of the fuel dispenser itself.